clergy sex abuse
Pope’s briefing system under scrutiny after Chile gaffe
By Nicole Winfield — February 1, 2018
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Some Vatican observers now wonder whether Francis is getting enough of the high-quality briefings befitting a world leader, or whether he is relying more on instinct and his own network of informants who slip him information on the side.
Guam archbishop faces new sexual assault allegation
By Jerome Socolovsky — January 10, 2018
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Archbishop Anthony Apuron already faces multiple allegations of sexual abuse of altar boys in the 1970s.
Cardinal Law, central figure in church abuse scandal, dies
By Rachel Zoll — December 20, 2017
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The disgraced former archbishop of Boston's failures to stop child molesters in the priesthood sparked what would become the worst crisis in American Catholicism.
Abandoning celibacy won’t stop sexual abuse by priests
By Thomas Reese — December 19, 2017
(RNS) — We know for a fact that noncelibate men, including married men, also abuse children.
Australian probe into child abuse attacks Catholic celibacy
By Rod McGuirk — December 15, 2017
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian inquiry into child abuse recommended that the Catholic Church lift its demand of celibacy from clergy and that priests be prosecuted for failing to report evidence of pedophilia heard in the confessional.
Ex-priest gets life in prison for 1960 parishioner slaying
By Jerome Socolovsky — December 8, 2017
EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — A jury on Friday sentenced an 85-year-old former priest to life in prison for the 1960 killing of a schoolteacher and former beauty queen who was a member of the parish he served.
Clerical sex abuse disclosures skyrocket in pope’s Argentina
By Yonat Shimron — October 27, 2017
CASEROS, Argentina (AP) — While Pope Francis struggles to make good on his 'zero tolerance' pledge to fight clerical sex abuse worldwide, victims in his native Argentina are denouncing abuses in unprecedented numbers.
Archdiocese of Santa Fe releases names of accused priests
By Jerome Socolovsky — September 13, 2017
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester announced the release of the names in a letter to parishioners after decades of pressure from victims and their family members.
Vatican Cardinal Pell faces Australian court on sex charges
By The Associated Press — July 26, 2017
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Cardinal George Pell, Australia's highest-ranking Catholic and Pope Francis' top financial adviser, is the most senior Vatican official ever charged in the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis.
‘Jet-set monk’ is back in Thailand after extradition from US
By Jerome Socolovsky — July 20, 2017
BANGKOK (AP) — Wirapol Sukphol was defrocked amid accusations of multiple sexual relationships with women — a cardinal sin for monks. Critics say he is an extreme example of a wider crisis in Thai Buddhism, which has become marginalized by a shortage of monks and an increasingly secular society.
As Anglicans point fingers in sex abuse scandal, George Carey quits honorary role
By Catherine Pepinster — June 27, 2017
LONDON (RNS) George Carey’s resignation highlights how church institutions are shifting their focus to punishing church officials for their roles in covering up child sex abuse by priests, even as some criticize them for not sufficiently addressing victims' needs.
Pope’s sex abuse panel to continue its work without victims — for now
By Josephine McKenna — March 27, 2017
ROME (RNS) But a commission statement vowed that victims of clerical abuse should have a voice in the future.
US cardinal: Pope committed to ending ‘scourge of sex abuse’ despite setbacks
By Josephine McKenna — March 23, 2017
ROME (RNS) Despite turmoil on the commission he created to deal with sex abuse in the Catholic Church, Pope Francis is committed “to rooting out the scourge,” Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley said.
Report says 1,100 complaints of child abuse made against Australia’s Anglican church
By Reuters — March 17, 2017
SYDNEY (Reuters) Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier said he felt a 'personal sense of shame and sorrow' at the way the church had apparently silenced victims.
At the Vatican, Sister Simone Campbell blasts ‘male power’
By Josephine McKenna — March 7, 2017
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The outspoken U.S. nun acknowledged the church was changing but said it was 'outrageous' that it was failing to effectively respond to the sex abuse crisis.
